We are honored that you are considering joining us for one of our worship services or community events! We cannot tell you how excited we are to meet you! This page is dedicated to helping you feel comfortable as you plan your visit. I know that I feel much more comfortable heading into a new environment when I have an idea of what to expect. This page helps you get a picture of what to expect when walking through our church's doors so that your visit will be as comfortable as possible.
Where to park?
Whether you are planning on joining us for a Sunday morning worship service or a community event, you will enter our parking lot off Route 340, which will bring you to the left side of the building when viewing it from 340. Guests are invited to use one of the parking spots closest to the building or, if necessary, the handicapped spaces directly beside the doors. The entrance to our church's sanctuary is pretty straightforward; once you find your parking place, you will see a porch with double doors below stained-glass windows that read "Pequea EC Church." These are the doors that we use for our worship services.
Entering the building
Upon entering the building, you will see six steps that take you to our sanctuary, upstairs restrooms, and classrooms. If you have difficulty with steps, don't let that stop you from joining us for worship. Our upper level is entirely handicap accessible via our elevator located to the right, just inside our main entrance. If you need assistance using the lift, one of our greeters will be happy to assist you.
That is the next thing to expect once you reach the main level, to be greeted by a friendly face! One of our greeters will be there to welcome you, answer your questions, make sure you have your bulletin, and show you to your seats. However, allow me to attempt to answer some of your questions before you even come upon the church property.
Everything you need to access for a Sunday morning worship service is located directly off our lobby, where you have just entered. Two family restrooms (including a handicap-accessible restroom) are directly off of our lobby. Looking from right to left as you enter the doors, you will see our elevator, a coat rack to store your belongings, our church office, two restrooms that sandwich where our greeter is located, and then the entrance to our upper Sunday School rooms and finally large double doors which lead into our sanctuary. Do not worry; it is more straightforward than it may appear in real life versus reading it on "paper."
Once you have entered the sanctuary, you are free to find the place where you feel you would be most comfortable to worship the Lord freely. Once you have taken your seat, you will find a blue hymnal and an NIV Bible below your chair. You will be invited throughout the service to use these two items to participate in our worship service.
As the Service Begins
Our services start at 9 a.m.; however, if you are running late, do not let that stop you from joining us. As the clock approaches 9 a.m., you can expect to see our video announcements playing on a screen and music playing softly in the background.
During this time, we invite you to sign what we call our "friendship folder," which is our way of noting your visit and following up with you after your visit. Our friendship folder is the black folder found at the end of every row. Leave us as much detail as you desire, but Pastor Jesse would love to send you a note of thanks for joining us in worship.
Once 9 a.m. has come, you can expect to hear our organist Mary Jane prepare our hearts for worship with a selection she has developed. This is known as our "prelude" to worship. Sometimes this may be a selection from our worship team as well.
After our prelude, you can expect Pastor Jesse to begin the service with a welcome to both onsite and online audiences, maybe a quick announcement, and then an opening time of prayer.
After this, Pastor Jesse will transition us into our time of musical worship through what we call a call to worship. This is usually a short passage of scripture, maybe something from the Psalms, that introduces and sets our hearts and minds upon the focus of the morning. After this, we begin our first worship set that will feature everything from traditional hymns to the latest and most theologically rich songs of our day led by our worship team.
Next, we will begin to prepare for our morning message. Our prayer leader will lead us in the morning Scripture reading, from which Pastor Jesse will share his message. You are invited to follow along through your personal Bible, device, or the Bible available below your chair.
After our prayer leader has shared our morning Scripture passage and prayed, he will turn the service over to Jesse to share what God has laid upon his heart for that week.
You can expect our morning message to be rooted in the truth of God's Word, with invitations and applications for the world in which we live. God's Word will be presented in a way that is faithful to its truth, yet understandable to the Bible scholar just as much as the "beginner" Bible reader. Pastor Jesse preaches what many call expository preaching or verse-by-verse preaching which is always rooted in a particular text.
The Bible has something for everyone. It is our mission that through our Sunday morning message and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, you walk away with a better understanding of the heart of our Savior, Jesus Christ, than when they entered our worship service.
After the morning message, we will worship through our second and final worship set before Pastor Jesse concludes the service with a final prayer and dismissal.
After our service, you are invited to stay and enjoy a cup of coffee... a great opportunity for us to get to know you and for you to get to know us.
Note about worship style: At Pequea Church of White Horse, we practice a truly blended style of worship. Most Sundays, our musical worship is divided between traditional hymns led by the organ and a song leader and contemporary songs of praise led by the keyboard and guitar of our worship team. Through whatever "style" we worship, we worship the same name!
Note About Children: We love to have children a part of our worship gathering, and we desire to create environments for children to grow in their relationship with Jesus through age-adapted ministry. Please see our children's ministry page for more details but children are invited to stay in our worship gathering or be a part of our children's ministry as parents and children desire.
Service Length- You can expect our Worship Service to last about an hour and fifteen minutes.
What to wear?- That question is really up to you to answer. Right now, we have individuals who enjoy wearing their suits and ties and those who keep it much more casual. No matter what you wear, we will be excited to have you join us, and you will be able to worship the Lord, and that is what is essential!
What about an offering? We do not pass an offering plate. However, if you are able and feel led to give to the mission of Pequea Church, which is to help people know and follow Jesus, we do have an offering box located immediately inside our main entrance.